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Fisheries resource maintenance flows for Pacific salmon

University of British Columbia

The statutory background of water use and the conflict with instream uses is reviewed. Habitat criteria for the several phases — migration, spawning, incubation, and rearing — of the fresh water life cycle of salmon are provided. Stream channel morphology and hydraulics are discussed, relative to salmon habitat requirements and the determination of fisheries resource maintenance flows. The relationship Between watershed hydrology and the fresh water life cycle of salmon is described, and techniques, with, examples, are given for analysing low flows for gaged and ungaged watersheds. Some of the more recent methodologies for establishing Fisheries Resource Maintenance Flows are reviewed and a new technique, using the utility curve concept to combine qualitative and quantitative information, is introduced. The advantages of this technique are that definite incremental values of potential productivity can be determined for a series of flow levels, based on either empirical data or expert opinion, or a combination of both, for subsequent resource evaluation and decision making. A step by step procedure is given for establishing Fisheries Resource Maintenance Flows, and some of the aspects of water management pertaining to recognition of instream flow requirements are addressed.

Text

2010-02-24

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/20886

Civil Engineering

University of British Columbia

Graduate